Joe Biden is heading for disaster at full speed

On March 1, 2022, US President Joe Biden delivered his annual State of the American Nation address. Many observers managed to call this speech "about the state of Ukraine", since, first of all, Joe Biden's speech was dedicated to Ukraine.

First of all, it should be recalled that the presidency of Joe Biden is strongly associated in the minds of American citizens with a whole set of problems. When Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the American nation faced one single problem – the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the fact that Joe Biden managed to declare victory over the virus in the summer of 2021, the pandemic still negatively affects the life of American citizens, which is also due to the inconsistent policy of the White House on anti-coronavirus measures.

However, during the reign of the new White House administration, several more serious problems have been added. Firstly, the problem of inflation, which in January 2022 amounted to 7.5% and equaled the figure of 1982, hits the average American's wallet hard. Secondly, the disruption of supply chains has led not only to a reduction in the range of goods, but also to rationing the sale of some food in stores.

Thirdly, the decline in the standard of living of certain groups of the population led to an increase in crime, which was also facilitated by the liberalisation of penitentiary legislation in some US states. The fourth point is the problem of illegal migration across the southern border of the United States, about 2 million illegal migrants passed through it in 2021.

Joe Biden's administration failed to solve any of these problems during his first year in office.

Of course, the hasty flight of the American army from Afghanistan also affected the White House. Moreover, no one was punished for the failure of the evacuation, during which 13 American soldiers were killed.

Therefore, it is not surprising that on March 1, Joe Biden began his speech in Congress with the crisis in Ukraine. It is worth saying that stickers/flags of Ukraine were prepared in the hall of the US Congress, some persons were dressed in scarves in the colours of the flag of this country. The Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States was specially invited.

During his speech, Biden declared the support of Ukraine from the United States and the united West, which rallied in the face of the threat of democracy. He reiterated his thesis, which he expressed immediately after his election, that there is a struggle between democracies and autocracies in the world. During his speech, he mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin 12 times.

Joe Biden is already known for allowing a lot of slips of the tongue, this time he said: "Putin may circle Kiev with tanks, but he will never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people." This, in principle, suggests that there is no difference between Iranians and Ukrainians for him. The topic of Ukraine was the only part of Biden's speech on which representatives of the Democratic and Republican Parties of the United States stood in solidarity.

The next part of his speech, which was devoted to the internal agenda, disappointed many. Supporters of the Democratic Party hoped that Joe Biden would use the address to the nation to inform Americans about the success that, in their opinion, the Democratic Party managed to achieve during the rule of their majority in the US Congress. This would be extremely necessary before the start of the election campaign, for the congressional elections in November 2022.

However, it was impossible to do this in reality, since the average American feels a drop in living standards on their own pocket and sweet speeches will not save the situation. Biden had nothing to brag about in front of citizens, even an increase in wages and employment did not lead to an increase in living standards.

In this regard, Biden said: "But with all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth and higher wages, too many families are struggling to keep up with the bills. Inflation is robbing them of the gains they might otherwise feel. I get it. That’s why my top priority is getting prices under control."

This statement, although it was not further specified, alarmed the memory of Americans. Biden's rule has already been compared to the rule of Jimmy Carter, the period when the US was experiencing the worst economic downturn.

The control over gasoline prices introduced by the US authorities at that time only aggravated the negative situation. In 1979, there was an increase in oil prices due to the revolution in Iran. American oil refiners delayed the supply of gasoline to consumers in order to sell it next month at a better price, which caused a shortage of supply. In some US states, restrictions were imposed on the purchase of gasoline, and kilometre-long queues were formed at gas stations.

Later, Carter addressed the Americans with a statement, which was later called a "Crisis of Confidence." The American president asked citizens to reduce the consumption of gasoline and electricity in order to reduce the energy dependence of the United States. As an example to follow, solar panels were installed on the roof of the White House, heating a water tank, and a wood-burning stove in residential premises.

Many in America are afraid of a repeat of history, since the United States and Europe, "united" by them, have practically erected a new iron curtain in front of Russia because of the situation with Ukraine.

Russia plays a significant role in the supply of energy resources to the world market and, although no direct sanctions have been imposed against Russia's raw materials sector, some insurance companies are afraid of their introduction and have stopped insuring the freight of ships with oil from Russian ports, which led to a jump in oil prices to $110 per barrel.

CNN already writes that although American politicians are ready to pay for the support of Ukraine, gasoline prices are already hitting ordinary Americans. California has become the first US state in which the average price of gasoline already exceeds $5 per gallon. Across the country, prices are "surging at pace drivers haven't seen since Hurricane Katrina in 2005," CNN writes.

The current average price of gasoline is $3.84, which is close to the record of $4.11, which was set in 2008. This is a huge jump compared to last year, when the national average price was $2.75 per gallon. This issue is fundamental for Americans - “a nation on wheels", since public transport in the United States is poorly developed.

During his speech, Biden only made promises. He said that the second part of his multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan will undergo a rebranding and the bill will soon be passed by Congress. Although 2 senators from the Democratic Party, because of whom the original bill was not passed, did not express any approval of this initiative.

As part of this plan, climate initiatives will be promoted as a way to combat inflation and an opportunity to save the average American family $500 a year. Biden also promised that he would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15.

In his speech, Biden adhered to the rhetoric that Donald Trump had previously declared. In addition to infrastructure initiatives, Biden said that soon Americans will buy products made exclusively in America. He also expressed his support for the police and, instead of pre-election promises to reduce police funding, said that he would increase the expenditure part of the budget to finance law enforcement officers.

Biden also promised to make medicines more accessible to Americans, as some manufacturers inflate prices in the domestic market. It is worth noting that after taking office, in the interests of pharmaceutical companies, Biden, by his decree, canceled the decision of the previous president to reduce drug prices.

In fact, in the absence of achievements, Biden's speech was trying to make Americans believe that the approach chosen by his administration would definitely work. "But I want you to know that we are going to be okay," Biden said during his speech.

At the same time, according to a Rasmusen Reports survey, only 31% of Americans believe that the United States is moving in the right direction. After his speech in Congress, according to polls from March 2, Joe Biden's approval rating increased by only 1% from 41% to 42%. Apparently, this speech did not produce the effect expected by the US Democratic Party.

According to February Washington Post-ABC News polls, 50% of adults would vote for Republicans in the upcoming congressional elections, 40% prefer Democrats. The difference of 10% in favour of the Republicans at the agency, which is associated with the Democratic party, suggests that the defeat of the Democrats will be total.

Accordingly, until the White House corrects the situation with the fall in the standard of living of the population, it is pointless for Democrats to count on victory.

According to surveys by the same agency, 75% of Americans negatively assess the state of the American economy. 54% believe that the state of the economy has worsened since Biden took office. Only 17% see improvement, and for 27% the situation in the economy has not changed.

As is indicated in the RUSSTRAT article "A year of Joe Biden's rule: results and prospects", Biden is only gaining toxicity from the electorate and only a national catastrophe, a grief that unites the country, can save him from a fiasco. Otherwise, he will be removed from power under some pretext and replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, probably with support in the form of Hillary Clinton.

This scenario does not add stability to the US political system in any way, where representatives of Democrats and Republicans see in opposite sides an existential threat to the very survival of the United States, as writes Foreign Affairs. The struggle for power will take on increasingly harsh forms. Thus, by maintaining the current course of his rule, Biden is not only heading for a catastrophe of his personal career, but also approaching a catastrophe for the country.